


A New Boy

by agronsies



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Also friendly Ralbert no romantic Ralbert sorry <3, Gen, Jack and Crutchie BROTHERS, Mention of Death, Pre-Strike, Read the triggers in tags, Sad Crutchie backstory, injury mention, not jackcrutchie never jackcrutchie, themes of abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25689016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agronsies/pseuds/agronsies
Summary: Jack and Finch do a normal day of pape selling, but make a shocking discovery as they try to get rid of every pape they needed to sell.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 11





	A New Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first newsies fic so I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to comment because I very much strive off validation, thanks.

Jack awoke to the cold air rushing through his body on a cold November day. His hands were almost frozen solid like they usually were when he would wake up every morning on top of the Newsboys' Lodging House. He preferred sleeping on the roof instead of inside the house due to the constant noise that was made in the bedroom where all the Newsies slept. He did used to sleep in the bedroom, but he got too annoyed by Albert and Race play fighting to see who could get the top bunk every night, so one night he climbed up the fire escape and slept on the roof, and he never looked back. It got a bit lonely up there sometimes but he liked staring at the stars every night before falling asleep.

"G'morning boys." Jack said as he climbed back into the bedroom to say good morning to all of them.

"Morning Jack! Ready to sell some papes, huh?" Albert asked him.

"Oh definitely." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Come on boys, 15 minutes until the bell rings. Gotta get there so we get the papes before some scabs do!"

"Yes Jack." The majority of the boys said in unison. Race lit up one of his cigars and tried to take a big drag before Albert snatched it from his mouth and took a puff of it himself. They argued about that for around 5 minutes before hugging it out like they usually do. The rest of the boys quickly got ready and dressed so they could rush to The World's pape distribution centre.

"Don't forget ya money." Race winked at Albert who was searching all around his pocket before he realised where his money was.

"Hey, give it back!" He tried to reach the money as it was in Race's hands and his arms were held up high.

"Give the poor kid his money back!" Elmer shouted from the bathroom.

"Fine." Race handed the money politely to Albert. "There you go, _honey_." He said in a sarcastic voice.

"Thank you, _darling_." Albert said in the same sarcastic tone.

As soon as they heard the chime of the morning bell, they all piled out the Lodging House to rush to The World to buy their papes for the day. Jack always went first in line, but before he stood in it, he wanted to make sure every one of his Newsies was present so he did a headcount. He saw Race, Albert, Elmer, Specs, Henry, Romeo, JoJo, and the newest addition to the Newsie family: Finch. He only came to live in the Lodging House 2 weeks ago and was still only getting the hang of selling papes, so he was selling with Jack to learn the basics.

"Good morning Weisel." Jack put his money down on the counter. "The usual." He was handed 100 papes and then moved out of the way for Finch to buy his papes.

"I'll take 30 today please sir." Finch said politely.

"Ooh, seems like the only Newsie with manners." Weisel said as he handed the boy 30 papes.

Finch and Jack watched the rest of the boys line up to get their papes to make sure there was no misconduct or fights, as there certainly had been before. He watched every single one fill their bag with heavy papes that hurt their backs but it was all part of the job.

"Alright guys, I'll catch you all later. Make sure to always sell your papes for more than paid for. Good luck!" Jack shouted and watched everyone but Finch disperse into the city to sell that day's news. He turned back to Finch and asked him a question: “So where should we sell today?”

”I don’t know...” He said nervously.

”Come on, you’ve been selling papes for 2 weeks. Where’s your favourite spot we’ve been to?” He asked Finch.

”Maybe by the Harbour?” He said.

”Alright sounds good! Do you remember how to get there?” He saw Finch's face drop. "Okay, you gotta learn where the prime selling spots are! Follow me!"

Finch and Jack walked for around 10 minutes to stand to sell their papes for the day at the Harbour. It was very cold as it was November, and New York was notoriously cold, but Finch had seemed to have forgotten to wrap up correctly so Jack lent his top layer to him. It looked very big on the boy but it's only purpose was to keep him warm, not to look good. The boys stood there for 5 minutes more, before their first potential customer walked past them.

"Come on Finch, sell your first pape!" Jack stirred on Finch.

"Read all about it: fresh news hot off the press!" He held the pape out to the business man who was walking by, who shook his head and didn't stop to buy the pape.

"Oh well. We've still got time. Remember you can always make up headlines! We just need to sell our papes so we can eat!" He explained to Finch.

"Yes..." Finch sighed.

"Hey!" He hit Finch with a pape. "What's up?"

"I miss my folks..." He admitted.

"I know. It's hard at first. It was for me too. But we're all family now, and we're better than your folks." Jack winked. "This job's hard but we all make a living from it so that's the main thing. Now come on, sell a pape to this guy."

"Buy today's pape?" Finch asked the man who was walking past.

"How much, kid?" The man asked him. Finch looked back to Jack who shrugged so he had to make his own judgement.

"One dollar." He smirked.

"Sold." The man said, reaching into his pocket so he could pull his money out. "Thanks kid."

"Eyyy, your first sale!" Jack clapped. "See, 2 weeks on the job and you're already a natural."

"I wouldn't say I'm a natural..." He sighed.

"Grrr." Jack growled. "Anyway, let's sell some more."

* * *

Around half way through the day, Jack and Finch decided to change selling spots because they weren't making enough sales. On their way to their new spot, they saw Specs and Romeo selling together and doing a roaring trade. They also saw Race stand outside a tobacco store, eyeing out the cigars in there. He did that at least once a week, and especially when he was running out of cigars. Jack and Finch both laughed and continued walking to their new spot.

"Hey, did ya hear that?" Jack thought he heard a whimper from in the trees.

"No?" Finch tried to detect what Jack was hearing. "Wait, yeah, I do." He said as he heard the whimper. As they got closer to the trees, the whimpering got more loud and more desperate, so Finch decided to take a quick peak to see if there was anything in there that was making that noise. To his dismay there was something. Someone, actually.

"Hey Jack, come here, there's a boy laying down." He shouted.

"Oh dear." Jack ran straight to where Finch was standing and saw the boy with his own eyes. He was covered in bruises and his right leg was completely battered.It was a sorry sight for both Jack and Finch and they both wanted to help the boy as much as they could.

"Hey, are you okay?" Finch asked the boy.

"Everything hurts." The boy quivered.

"I know. Do you know what happened?" Jack went into his protective mode to try and help the boy out.

"My dad- he- well-" He stumbled on his words. "I don't think I can talk about it right now..."

"Hey, it's okay. Hows about we sit you up against the tree and assess your injuries?" Jack signalled Finch to go to the boy's other side to sit him up carefully. "Ouch, you've got some bad injuries there, mate."

"It hurts everywhere." He cried.

"I know, I know, shhh." Finch tried to comfort him. "How long have you been here?"

"A few days, I think." The boy shook his head.

Jack started thinking about what he could do for the boy. He did not want to leave him there, he was too injured and would probably die there. All of a sudden, he had an idea.

"Hows about we take you to my friend, Medda? She's got special healing powers." Jack said. "Finch, you're gonna love her."

"Alright!" Finch exclaimed.

"Now, help me pick the boy off the ground, we can walk him to Medda's theatre."

The boy winced as soon as any weight was put onto his right leg, so Finch and Jack tried to make him feel most comfortable by trying not to put any weight onto that foot. He was walked all the way round town to a grand building, where Jack asked to see Miss Medda Larkin. They were immediately took to the green room, where the supposed Medda Larkin was sitting, admiring her makeup and her hair.

"Well, hello there Jack! And have we got two new Newsies with you today?" Medda greeted Jack.

"Hi miss Medda. This is Finch, he's been a new Newsie for around 2 weeks now-"

"Hi." FInch waved.

"Hey Finch! How are you enjoying selling papers?" She held her hand out to be shaken.

"Good! Jack is a brilliant mentor. I sold my first pape today after 2 weeks of training from the master himself." He explained his awe for Jack, who was still trying to take care of the boy he brought in from the streets.

"And how about you-" She turned to the boy. "Oh my, you're covered in bruises! Did Snyder get you?”

”Who’s Snyder?” Finch butted in.

”Oh, my mortal enemy.” Jack shivered. “He runs a jail for kids called the Refuge. He’s caught me once or twice but I’ve escaped every time. He’s out to get me...”

”He’s a terrible man.” Medda sighed. “Now come on, who hurt you?” She turned back to the boy.

”My dad.” He cried. “I don’t know what for or why, I think he had a hard day at work. He hit me and beat me and he threw me out his house so I guess I have nowhere else to go...”

”Oh darling, let me see...” She tried to tend to his wounds. “These are some bad wounds.”

”Is he going to be okay?” Finch asked.

”He’s going to be fine.” Jack said. “Medda’s got special healing powers.”

"Well, I am magic." Medda posed with an arrogant smirk. "Hey, Finch is it?" She turned to Finch who was looking at all the art on the walls. "Go and look in my special closet over there. I have to talk to Jack."

"Okay!" Finch jumped and ran to the closet where he looked around and saw many props that were used on stage in the theatre.

"He's badly injured." Medda told Jack who sat down next to the boy. "But you can't just make him be a Newsie too if that's what you're thinking..."

"But he has nowhere to go. A newsie has to help out his fellow newsies no matter the situation. Remember when I got into the Refuge that time? Race told helped me escape. We're brothers. We can always get another brother." Jack explained his love for his profession.

"But condemning a poor boy to a life of paper selling- it's not nice. And by the looks of things, his right leg isn't going to get any better anytime soon. Walking around with a bum leg all day isn't going to be good for him." She tried to talk some sense into Jack.

"I'd love to be apart of this family..." The boy muttered quietly, but just loud enough for them both to hear him.

"See? We got a new boy!" Jack smiled and clapped.

"Oh my goodness, I completely forgot to ask! What's your name?" Medda gasped.

"Ch-" The boy began to say his name before Finch ran back in the room.

"Crutch! I mean- I found a crutch. You know for- Oh boy, I don't even know his name..."

The boy smiled at the kind gesture Finch did and said his name again. "Crutchie."

Jack and Medda were a little confused but Finch and the newly introduced 'Crutchie' seemed to have bonded in the small time they had together so they didn't seem to say a word.

"Well, Crutchie, how about we patch you up so you can go to the Newsboys Lodging House? Medda looked around the room. "Jack, can you get the First Aid box?"

"Sure thing, Miss Medda." Jack looked for the box and handed it to her. She was so careful with Crutchie and gently tended to his wounds. He winced every now and then and Medda apologised every time he did. 

"There you go, all patched up." Medda nodded.

"Thanks miss." Crutchie smiled. 

"Have a go walking with the crutch!" Finch stirred him on.

"No Finch, I'll carry him back. He seems weak, don't want to strain him any further." Jack said. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

When the 3 boys got back to the Newsboys Lodging House, it was almost dark. Jack made a vow to himself that every night he would sit at the top of the building and watch the sun set. However, that night he didn't want to leave the new kid alone so he would ask him if he wanted to join him.

"Ey, who's this?" Race asked.

"His name's Crutchie!" Finch smiled.

"Hi." He said shyly.

"Hey, I'm Race. That's Albert, he's annoying." He laughed and Albert punched him lightly. "We also have JoJo, Elmer, Specs, Romeo, Henry and of course you've met Jack and Finch." He pointed to the all the newsies sat in the bedroom.

"Hey." The rest of the newsies waved at Crutchie.

"It's a hard job, but we survive." Elmer said.

"Barely." Henry laughed.

"Don't put him off!" JoJo shouted.

"No, it's okay. I think I'm gonna like it." Crutchie said and smiled.

"Oi, Crutchie, come with me." Jack signalled for him.

"Ooooh, someone's in trouble." Albert prolonged his words.

Jack told Crutchie to hold on to his back, and they both walked up the fire escape to the roof so Jack could have his scheduled sunset watching. Crutchie sat against the fence and Jack sat just on where he slept, as usually whilst he watched the sun set, he would fall asleep. And since had such a busy day, he could feel his eyelids get more and more heavy as the sun began to fall into the horizon.

"Hey, Jack?" Crutchie wondered if he was still awake. "Is selling papers hard?"

"At the first point, yeah. You need to know all the tricks of the trade. But don't worry, I'm gonna teach you and you'll be a perfect newsie in no time." He explained the job, and saw that Crutchie had a worried facial expression. "Hey, come here. Wait, I'll get up." Jack moved to where Crutchie was sitting and hugged him. "It's gonna be okay. We're brothers now."

"Like- a family?" Crutchie asked. "Because I think I lost mine..."

"You gained one right here. We're all here for you." He smiled. 

"You're the best." He sighed happily into Jack's arms. They ended up falling asleep like that and didn't wake up until the morning. 

Ever since that night, Jack and Crutchie were inseparable. They slept on the rooftop every night and often sold papes everyday together. Jack was so thankful for finding that boy in the tall grass that day. He didn't want that day to be any different. It was like he gained a brother. All his newsies were like family, but Crutchie, he was different.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I changed the plot so much so I'm sorry of the continuity isn't that great, but I hope you enjoyed it! This has been in the works for so long and I forgot it existed but I finally got it written. Please comment if you want :)


End file.
